Hey world, Cleveland has a baseball team and it's really fun and good
LeBron James shook the world to its core when he left the Cavs to sign with the Lakers this week. It's created a snowball effect of NBA moves that may, actually, never end. And, according to some notable media outlets and personalities, it's left Cleveland grasping for its place in the sporting world:
No offense to the Browns, but guys ...
Yes, there's the Cleveland Indians. The first-place-by-9-1/2 games Cleveland Indians. The 100-game-winning-in-2017 Cleveland Indians. The came-a-few-hits-from-winning-the-2016-World-Series Cleveland Indians. Allow us to remind you of them.
There's Francisco Lindor -- the best shortstop in baseball
He's having a career year this season -- slashing at a .298/.373/.581 clip with 23 dingers and 55 RBIs. He leads the league with 73 runs and his 5.1 WAR is the best (by far) of any shortstop. He hits dramatic home runs, he makes dazzling defensive plays and he does it all while sporting the best smile in the game.
There's Jose Ramirez -- the best third baseman in baseball
Coming off a near-MVP season, Ramirez has been even better in 2018. He already has 24 homers (he had 29 all of last year), he's the only third baseman with an OPS over 1.000 (1.014) and his 5.8 WAR is nearly two whole points ahead of Alex Bregman -- the next closest at his position. His defense has also never been better. Ramirez also took immediate offense to the slight to his team on Monday. We can only imagine his face when he tweeted.
There's Corey Kluber -- one of the best pitchers in baseball
One could make an argument that Kluber has been the best pitcher in the American League over the last five seasons. He's won two Cy Young Awards and finished in the top 10 two other times. Currently, Kluber is 12-4 with a 2.64 ERA, 120 strikeouts and a league-leading 9.23 K/BB ratio. Earlier this year, he went an unreal 46 1/3 innings without allowing a base on balls. He's probably not thrilled with his team being forgotten.
Trevor Bauer has also been exceptional -- maybe even better than Kluber -- tallying strikeout totals that might rival Cleveland Hall of Famer Bob Feller by season's end. Edwin Encarnación is still Edwing-ing with 20 long balls, Michael Brantley is healthy and hitting again and the team just called up a starter named Shane Bieber. He's 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts. He also cranked a double in his hitting debut. ANOTHER BIEBER WITH HITS.
If that's not fun, I don't know what is.
So, it's OK to miss LeBron and it's fine to watch the Browns, but remember that there's a playoff-caliber team also playing in Believeland. Go watch it play some baseball this year. Terry Francona will appreciate it.